INDIAN FOOD

The traditional food of India has been widely appreciated for its fabulous use of herbs and spices. Indian cuisine is known for its large assortment of dishes. The cooking style varies from region to region and is largely divided into South Indian & North Indian cuisine. India is quite famous for its diverse multi cuisine available in a large number of restaurants and hotel resorts, which is reminiscent of unity in diversity. The staple food in India includes wheat, rice and pulses with chana being the most important one. In modern times Indian pallete has undergone a lot of change. In the last decade, as a result of globalisation, a lot of Indians have travelled to different parts of the world and vice versa there has been a massive influx of people of different nationalities in India. This has resulted in Indianisation of various international cuisines. Nowadays, in big metro cities one can find specialised food joints of international cuisines.

Food in the North India, to begin with, Kashmiri cuisines reflect strong Central Asian influences. In Kashmir, mostly all the dishes are prepared around the main course of rice found abundantly in the beautiful valley. Another delicious item cooked here is the 'Saag' that is prepared with a green leafy vegetable known as the 'Hak'.

But on the other hand states like the Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh show high consumption of chapatis as staple food. Again, these chapatis are prepared with a variety of flours such as wheat, rice, maida, besan etc. Besides chapatis other closely related breads baked in these regions include Tandoori, Rumali and Naan etc. However in the northern region impact of Mughlai food is quite obvious. Some of the famous Mughlai dishes are:- ‘Haleem’,’Mughlai’,’Biryani’ etc… In north eastern India, tea and coffee is grown. There is a huge amount of tea gardens. It is grown in Sikkim and Darjeeling.

South Indian Food

In the Southern India, the states make great use of spices, fishes and coconuts, as most of them have coastal kitchens. In the foods of Tamil Nadu use of tamarind is frequently made in order to impart sourness to the dishes. It simply distinguishes the Tamil Food from other cuisines.

The cooking style of Andhra Pradesh is supposed to make excessive use of chilies, which is obviously to improve the taste of the dishes.

Bengali cuisine is appreciated for its fabulous use of panchphoron, a term used to refer to the five essential spices, namely mustard, fenugreek seed, cumin seed, aniseed, and black cumin seed. The specialty of Bengali food lies in the perfect blend of sweet and spicy flavors. For Bengalis, food is one of the most essential aspects of their day to day lives. Ladies spend lot of time in the kitchen cooking delicious feast for the family. To fully relish their meal, Bengalis eat the food with their fingers. It is indeed quite exigent to find authentic Bengali dishes outside the Bengali kitchen.

Gujarati Food

The traditional Gujarati food is primarily vegetarian and has a high nutritional value. The typical Gujarati thali consists of varied kinds of lip smacking dishes. Gujarati cuisine has so much to offer and each dish has an absolutely different cooking style.

Kashmiri food originated from the picturesque Kashmir Valley, the crown of India that lies in the lap of the Himalayas. Kashmir not only offers mesmerising locations but also a wide range of lip smacking and exotic delicacies. Traditionally rice has remained the staple food for the Kashmir populace which is most popularly complimented with varied preparations of meat. Kashmiris including the Brahmin Pandits are voracious meat eaters and thus a number of appetizing and luscious Kashmiri dishes of meat like rogan josh and yakhni are available. Varied range of traditional Kashmiri breads like bakarkhani and tea like sheer chai are also quite popular in the region.

Mughlai Cuisine

Mughlai cuisine is one of the most popular cuisines, whose origin can be traced back to the times of Mughal Empire. Mughlai cuisine consists of the dishes that were prepared in the kitchens of the royal Mughal Emperors. Indian cuisine is predominantly influenced by the cooking style practiced during the Mughal era.